Self Development

The Who, one of my favorite classic rock bands but funny enough that exact question comes up a lot in my role as a Sandler trainer. Who are you? One of the first things that we do with new clients at Sandler is an online behavioral assessment. There are a few reasons for this, but in short, it tells you and us more about who you are.

We just finished watching the first total eclipse of the sun since 1979. It got dark, it got cool, and it looked fascinating through the eclipse glasses. Which got me thinking, an eclipse is a blockage. It doesn’t let the sun come through to the earth.

Day in and day out, sellers are inundated with sales tips, new technologies, and industry updates. It’s easy to get caught up in the newest trends and forget about the basics. Today, I’ve outlined five simple tasks that salespeople can perform to improve their daily efficiency and make them more effective.

How many times have you faced a task and the first thought that came to mind was something like “I can’t…,” “That will never work…,” “What’s the point of…,” or “I’m afraid that…”? More times than you’d care to admit, perhaps? Each time you entertain a negative thought about your ability to achieve a goal, solve a problem, or deal with any situation, you’re poisoning your own well—filling your subconscious with negative unproductive thoughts that it eventually accepts as FACTS, despite the lack of any evidence as such.

Rule 14: Risk failure to achieve growth. I-10's learn from failure. Wow, I'll tell you what. This rule is action packed with Sandler philosophies and tactics. First of all, we have to embrace failure. Everyone's going to fail. You failed when you were a kid learning how to ride a bike. We fail in all the different roles that we have throughout the day.

In our constant pursuit to arm you with tools to become a sales master, we recently released a new book titled, Winning From Failing, by Sandler Trainer, Josh Seibert. While there are entirely too many teachings in the book to list here, below we have highlighted a few that encompass the essence of the book and are important takeaways for managers.

Summer can be a challenging time for businesses. Reduced productivity from individuals going on vacations or taking time off can lead to slow sales. This common phenomenon is a subject we’ve covered before on the Sandler Blog, with tips on how to combat the slow season.

Josh Seibert is a long-time Sandler Trainer and our latest author. He joins us to talk about the lessons from his new book, Winning Through Failing. He shares why failure is a critical part of success, not the opposite of success. Learn how to set the stage for failure and use it to grow faster and expand your comfort zone.

There’s an adage that rings true for sales careers, “if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.” Proficient salespeople have some of the highest job satisfaction across all industries and can have very rewarding and lucrative careers. On the other side of the coin, selling — especially commission based selling — isn’t for everyone. Inexperienced or ineffective salespeople may have a hard time breaking into the profession.

It’s already the second quarter; is it too late to discuss sales mistakes to avoid in 2017? Or lessons learned in 2016? It matters not what month or year it is, for some sales lessons are timeless, and furthermore, we need to revisit them on a regular basis.

Need some motivation? Look no further than this group of TED Talks, from experts in a variety of fields. From the aid worker who battled hippos (and lost) to the analyst who discovered the power of drawing toast (and how those drawings revealed simple solutions to complex problems),” this roundup of TED Talks is ideal for motivating yourself or your sales team.

In his recent book, Change or Die, author Alan Deutschman claims that although we have the ability to change our behavior, we rarely do. In fact, the odds are nine-to-one that when faced with a dire need to change, we won’t. Most smokers who are presented with a wealth of scientific data on the dangers of tobacco do not quit smoking. Our beliefs are what we feel in our gut and those beliefs are hard to change; we spent a lifetime developing and defending them. This explains why providing information rarely changes how people think or act.

What do the first seven seconds of meeting you say about you, your work ethic, and your ability to be successful? Every fiber you zip, shrug, or button into tells a story about you. Smart business people understand this and use it to craft a strong personal brand. While you don't need to wear a business suit every day of your life, unless you are in a super-professional industry, it's critical to selectively choose your clothing.

It's almost always the decision maker that makes the decision work or not work – not the choice. You can make decisions – better decisions – and you can make them work. If you are not feeling “up to it,” no amount of concentration or wishful thinking will make your dreams come true. Things in motion tend to stay that way and things at rest do too. When you stop spending so much time THINKING IT OVER, and start making decisions, your prospects will too.

2016 has been a year of many successes. Whether you are a sales representative, a sales manager, or simply interested in learning more about trending topics in the sales industry, we hope you have gathered some key insights from our blog this year. Before moving into 2017, we would like to take a look back and highlight some important topics from 2016.

You have an inventory to take, a phone call to make, and a report to write. But instead of diving in and getting the tasks completed, you put them off. “I’ll get to them soon,” you tell yourself. But your definition of “soon” and Webster’s definition have little in common. Can you relate to these situations…or perhaps other recurring situations of similar thought and behavior?

Stress reactions have also been shown to be beneficial in business situations — in small doses. A recent study even states that short periods of stress can increase a person’s cognitive functions, resulting in brain power improvements. As long as we’re able to channel stress to solve problems, the body’s stress reactions can help us focus, get more done, and think more clearly.

Anyone can become a salesperson. There’s no real barrier to entry and no barrier to continuing a career in sales. As with most professions, anyone can become a “subject matter expert,” but that does not automatically make that person a good salesperson.

Stress is a natural response of the body to challenge, fear, attack, excitement and other external stimuli that gets our heart racing and the blood vessels pumping. However, too much stress, which happens regularly in a stressful workplace, and the body starts to break down. It’s not a good formula for a successful career, no matter how hard a person works.